CROSSROADS
“Cross Road Blues” is one of Delta Blues singer Robert Johnson‘s most famous songs.
The lyrics plainly have the narrator attempting to hitch a ride from an intersection as
darkness falls. But in close association with the mythic legend of Johnson’s short life and
death, it has come to represent the tale of a blues man going to a metaphorical crossroads
to meet the devil to sell his soul in exchange for becoming a famous blues player. While
the idea of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil may be fascinating and evocative,
many believe the song itself plainly describes the very real, harrowing situation feared by
Johnson and other African Americans in the Deep South in the early 20th century.
Historian Leon Litwack has suggested that the song refers to the common fear felt by
blacks who were discovered out alone after dark. As late as 1930s in parts of the South,
the well-known expression, “Nigger, don’t let the sun go down on you here,” was,
according to Litwack, “understood and vigorously enforced.” In an era when lynching’s
were still common, Johnson was likely singing about the desperation of finding his way
home from an unfamiliar place as quickly as possible because, as the song says, “the sun
goin’ down, boy/ dark gon’ catch me here.” This interpretation also makes sense of the
closing line “You can run/ tell my friend poor Willie Brown/ that I’m standing at the
crossroads” as Johnson’s appeal for help from a real-life fellow musician.”. Furthermore,
it is said that Johnson requested that Willie Brown be informed in the event of his death.
The legend of Johnson selling his soul to learn to play guitar is said to have taken place in
Rosedale, Mississippi, at the intersection of Highway 8 and Highway 1. Another, less
common, belief is that the crossroad is at the intersection of Highway 49 and Highway 61
in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
Because of the historical significance of “Cross Road Blues,” it was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.
I went down to the crossroad
fell down on my knees
I went down to the crossroad
fell down on my knees
Asked the lord above “Have mercy now
save poor Bob if you please”
Yeeooo, standin at the crossroad
tried to flag a ride
ooo ooo eee
I tried to flag a ride
Didn’t nobody seem to know me babe
everybody pass me by
Standin at the crossroad babe
risin sun goin down
Standin at the crossroad babe
eee eee eee, risin sun goin down
I believe to my soul now,
Poor Bob is sinkin down
You can run, you can run
